[[quoteright:200:[[VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}} http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Hisuiremake_3250.png]]]][[caption-width-right:200: She's good at almost anything, but for the love of Akasha, ''[[LethalChef never let her go near the kitchen.]]'']]

->''"A maid is a mythical being that all of us have heard about, but have never seen."''-->-- '''[[VideoGame/{{Touhou}} ZUN]]'''

In anime, the housekeeper is a girl or young, attractive woman with a frilled band in her hair, and is required by her employer to wear a housemaid outfit of variable taste like a dress, or blouse and skirt (often also an apron). Usually this runs more towards the "cute" end of the spectrum, although in {{seinen}} the main difference is how much [[CostumeExaggeration shorter and more outlandish]] the skirt will be.

In general this type of character is used as a form of FanService, but usually not in the "sexy" sense as FrenchMaid is. Rather this character tends to appeal to "{{moe}}", and is connected to the fantasy of a (theoretically) submissive girl or young woman who obediently cleans your room, cooks your meals, behaves well and dresses like the employer requires, and tends to your every need. Because of this, it can appeal to young girls as well as men.

In a romantic series, a housemaid (or domestic service in general) is used as a socially acceptable excuse to put a young, romantically available female lead under the same roof as one or more (potentially wealthy and handsome, if not [[LonelyRichKid particularly socially adjusted]]) male characters. (Bonus if they are classmates with their new servant.) It also inherently opens up issues of class or gender power disparity, as whoever hired her obviously has the income to spare money employing another person full-time, and has great leverage over their employee.

Meido in comedies frequently subvert expectations by being very (violently) dedicated to their jobs and (willfully) oblivious to whomever they look after. Others will have crushes on their bosses, whom they usually call ''goshujin-sama'' (master) or ''{{ojou}}-sama'' (mistress).

In extreme cases, a meido, or, in the case of a [[MaidCorps larger contingent of maids]], the head maid, will be the de facto head of the household, while her hypothetical employer is treated either as [[ShelteredAristocrat too delicate]] to handle the management of whatever {{Fiction 500}} financial empire earns them the money to hire the housemaids, or as too [[UpperClassTwit lazy and incompetent]] to be trusted with that power, themselves. Especially in the latter case, they may behave more like strict (and disappointed) parents than employees. Expect these employers to have [[IdleRich nothing better to do]] than to indulge in their [[ManChild childish whims]]. If children, the head housemaid may well behave [[PoisonousFriend like a stalker or abductor, purposefully sheltering their ward from anything that may take them away or "taint" them]].

If the hypothetical head of the household is royalty or a head of state, the head housemaid might sometimes just be the Prime Minister, Interior Minister, Chief of Police, War Minister, and more all rolled into one.

Sometimes a female character will inexplicably wear an outfit which vaguely resembles a housemaid outfit. The chance of this increases dramatically if she is shown doing any housework. Also, more and more often, the housemaid is also a RobotGirl. (See RobotMaid)

If the meido in question happens to be an ActionGirl as well, she gets instantly promoted to NinjaMaid.

Housemaids are a quick and semi-plausible excuse to introduce a character into a household, domestic experience notwithstanding. If a young heroine (lacking a college education) is suddenly destitute, then obtaining work as a domestic servant is historically the common solution.

Meido are of particular interest, insofar as they and [[NaughtyNurseOutfit nurses]] are among the very few {{Moe}} items that attract both Japanese and Westerners.

Compare to FrenchMaid, the HotterAndSexier origin of this trope. See also ElegantGothicLolita, a fashion style with similar appeal to meido. Guaranteed to occur in a MaidCafe.------!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]* Maika in ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex''. Academy City, where the story takes place, has maid ''schools''.* Taeko in ''Manga/AiYoriAoshi'' is a [[CuteClumsyGirl cute clumsy maid]].* Maylene from ''Manga/BlackButler'' one of these. [[CuteClumsyGirl She's not a very good maid]]. [[spoiler:[[NinjaMaid She's actually a skilled sniper.]]]]** The anime also has Angela and Hannah.* ''Manga/BlackLagoon''** Roberta is currently employed as a maid but occasionally has need of her ''other'' skillset as an ex-Cuban-trained assassin ''par excellance''. Her equipment is of both worlds and includes such interesting combination items as a shotgun-umbrella, incendiary grenade-bustle, and an armored portmanteau with integrated machinegun. However, she's not a very good ''maid''.** Fabiola Iglesias is a housemaid working for the same family, serving directly under Roberta. A younger, more comic-relief character, she is still very good with blades and martial arts, although she admits her gun skills need work. While Fabiola also mentions that she is the only one of the Lovelace maids being trained by Roberta for combat, Revy still wonders if the entire Lovelace Plantation was a badass [[NinjaMaid maid force]] that could storm the Iranian embassy if they wanted to. (All portents point to "Yes.")* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': A Flashback arc reveals that the Ishida family had a maid called Kanae Katagiri. She was brought into the family when she and Ryuuken Ishida were very young children to be his personal servant and bodyguard. She is unshakably [[UndyingLoyalty loyal]] to him, has only his best interests at heart, and is both his first choice as a [[NinjaMaid battle partner]] and a confidante. Oh, and she's fanservice, too: there's definitely UnresolvedSexualTension between them. [[spoiler: She ends up as Ryuuken's wife and the mother of his son, Uryuu, before being killed six years before the first manga chapter... the savvy will notice that this ''is'' the same date as the death of Ichigo's mother, Masaki, and, no, that's not a coincidence. PlotTriggeringDeath indeed.]]* Marika Kato and her best friend in ''LightNovel/BodaciousSpacePirates'' work at a MaidCafe.* Erica and Liliana of ''LightNovel/{{Campione}}'' both have personal maids, Arianna and Karen respectively, who are a year younger than them. They are both receiving tutelage as witches in return for their services. Arianna has [[DrivesLikeCrazy several]] [[LethalChef faults]] as a maid, but Erica likes her regardless. Karen by contrast is skilled both at her job and at manipulating Liliana due to the latter's lack of social skills; she also acts as a "spy", sending blackmail material to Erica.* ''Manga/{{Chobits}}'' has a character who also has a cadre of RobotGirl Persocom maids.** The only one he has personal feelings for is the only one who's ''not'' dressed like a prostitute. He's an eleven year old super genius by the way.* Maura from ''Manga/{{Claudine}}'' works as a maid in the main character's family home.* The Lamperouge household's maid Sayoko from ''Anime/CodeGeass'' does housework, looks after the IllGirl and occasionally [[NinjaMaid battles cyborg assassins with ninja martial arts]]. She's got her FanNickname of "the Sayocopter" for a reason.* Fiore from ''Manga/ChronoCrusade'' is a quiet girl who serves as Joshua's maid.* [[spoiler:Miyu]] of ''Manga/FateKaleidLinerPrismaIllya'' was revealed to be one. Much to her horror (or perhaps... [[SchoolgirlLesbians delight?]]), Illya turned out to have an uncontrollably massive Maid fetish.* ''Manga/FruitsBasket'' has Mine who dresses in costume out of pure enjoyment-and insists that every other girl she meets does the same.* Subverted in ''Anime/FullMoonOSagashite''. The Kouyama's house maid dresses modestly more like your typical maid, is quite round and plain-looking. She looks and sounds about... middle-aged?* Sakuyo and Kikuyo from ''Anime/GirlsUndPanzer'' "Little Army" work for the Nishizumi family, cleaning, cooking, talking with Miho about her problems, and [[CombatReferee overseeing]] [[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers mock tank battles]]. It's implied that Sakuyo is a former student of Miho's mother.* Pai in ''Anime/GOnRiders'' wears maid outfit after her {{Heel Face Turn}} and causes some utterly funny scenes forgetting to change and going to school.* In ''Anime/{{Gravion}}'', the entire staff of Klein Sandman's castle other than his BattleButler is composed of maids. Servant maids, Guard maids, [[NinjaMaid commando maids]], hacker maids, mechanic maids, and even one member of the central SuperRobot team. [[spoiler:Who of course turns out to be a ''[[RidiculouslyHumanRobots Robot]]'' Maid]].* Very nearly the ''[[MaidCorps entire cast]]'' of ''Anime/HanaukyoMaidTai'' are maids.* ''Anime/HandMaidMay'' is an hand-sized RobotGirl maid called a Cyberdoll.* One of the ''Manga/HappyLesson'' teachers usually wears a maid-like outfit at home, and naturally does much of the domestic chores.* Parodied in ''Anime/HareGuu'' with Bell, Weda's creepy lesbian maid.* Mikuru, the [[{{Moe}} Moe-blob]] from ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'', is picked by Haruhi as the SOS Brigade's maid.** In the episode "Live Alive", Tsuruya-san and a couple of other school girls are dressed as maids and serve noodles and tap water for the Arts Festival.** [[spoiler: Mori is both an ActionGirl and a Maid at various times, but not the same appearance. So she may or may not be a NinjaMaid ]]* ''Manga/HayateTheCombatButler''.** Maria. This. PerverseSexualLust. [[WholesomeCrossdresser Hayate]] is shown wearing a maid dress thanks to a curse.** Saki also fills this quotient for Wataru (though without the respectful title). [[spoiler: Chiharu]] is a secret maid.** Isumi and Nagi try to project the impression on occasion. Since they're both {{Ojou}}s, they fail at varying degrees.** Izumi dresses as one (short skirt variation) [[spoiler: as punishment by her father]]. All the other maids (and pseudo-maids) use the long skirt variation.* The whole point of ''Manga/HeIsMyMaster'' is to put two teenage girls (and later three) into [[http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kerai/1141794515973.jpg fetish maid outfits]]. The first enjoys wearing it, the second hates wearing it, and the third [[LesYay enjoys the second one wearing it]].* In ''Manga/HidamariSketch'', Yoshinoya-sensei dresses in a maid outfit for cleaning day. ''She doesn't clean in it, nor would she ever.'' It would get dirty, after all.* ''Manga/KamenNoMaidGuy'' subverts, parodies and basically dials the concept of "maid" up to 11. As the title says, Kogarashi is a Maid ''Guy'' -- a crossdressing heroic sociopath. The series also includes Shizuku and Tsurara, who are {{Ninja Maid}}s.** The more straight version of this trope, Fubiki, who only subverts this in two ways: first, she has a tendency to beat Kogarashi with a giant spiked club when he misbehaves; second, she sometimes goes overboard with her maid duties, even becoming embarrassed when the other cast members catch her ''in normal clothes.''* Speaking of creepy lesbian maids, ''Manga/KannazukiNoMiko'''s resident maid had a crush on Chikane.* Sara Uchida from ''Manga/KaseiYakyoku'', who is a maidservant in Akiko's family house, who is in a love triangle that involves her, Akiko and Takao.* Creator/KenAkamatsu. We can just call this AuthorAppeal and be done with it ** Akamatsu's fascination with maids and other "innocent" fetish outfits goes all the way back to ''Manga/AILoveYou''.** After a (relatively) humorous breakdown, Motoko in ''Manga/LoveHina'' tries her hand at being domestic, including full maid regalia. In the manga she stole it from Kitsune, in the anime Haruka apparently had a maid outfit lying around.** The girls of his next series ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'' wear maid outfits for sometimes no reason at all; primarily with the, as is common, RobotGirl Chachamaru (the rest of the cast once broke into her wardrobe).*** For Chachamaru there's justification, she ''is'' [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Evangeline's]] [[NinjaMaid servant]]. The other girls, well the excuse was that they'd just taken a bath and wanted clean clothes (they were in [[NobleDemon Evangeline's]] resort at the time).*** During the TournamentArc, Setsuna and Asuna get pressganged into wearing maid outfits to appeal to the crowd, mainly because they don't really have any pulls (like "last years champion", etc.)*** Then later, while half the cast was TrappedInAnotherWorld, she dressed up several of the remaining classmates because she was bored. Evangeline seems to just have a thing for the Maid/[[ElegantGothicLolita Gothloli]] look.*** Then some of the girls who were in the magic world ended up [[GoGoEnslavement sold into slavery, complete with maid outfits.]]*** Oddly enough, Fate appears to have a Meido fetish, as he seems to take every opportunity to make girls dress in Meido outfits. Including Anya and his minions.** The girls in ''Manga/UQHolder'' can often be seen in maid outfits while at Fairyland hall. Justified for Karin, Kirie, and Shinobu since they work there, but [[ShamelessFanserviceGirl Mizore]] seems to do it strictly for cosplay purposes.* ''Manga/KyoshiroToTowaNoSora'' deconstructs this. Setsuna is essentially Kyoshiro's maid, taking care of everything he needs, but while he's simply using her status as an Absolute Angel to destroy the others and then her, Setsuna is hopelessly in love with him, trying her hardest to make everything nice for him in the hopes that ''maybe'' he'll show her some affection. Yet when he falls for Kuu instead [[spoiler: (despite her being an Absolute Angel as well), she vows to [[IJustWantMyBelovedToBeHappy continue helping him find her, even if she won't be repaid for it.]] ]]* ''LightNovel/LadiesVersusButlers''. In the whole servant-ed of the school, there are only four boys. The rest are girls who are all this. Sanae is one most focused on.* Sent up in ''Anime/LuckyStar'', where [[OccidentalOtaku Patty]] wishes she had a Meido to do her chores so she could spend more time watching anime...that's specifically a Meido, not a housekeeper. There's a difference!* Elenore Baker from ''Anime/{{Madlax}}'' is a prime example of this. As well being Margaret's maid she acts as her personal assistant, body guard and all around companion. Her professionalism tends to lead people that she is "cold" or "mechanical or a robot" when the opposite is true. It is also because of that professionalism that she can't truly express how she feels for her master Margaret, so she does so in her work.* In ''LightNovel/MagiciansAcademy'', we have Eneus, the [[PettingZooPeople Dog Girl]] NinjaMaid complete with BladeOnAStick. Eitarou, her master. makes HumongousMecha [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot versions]] of her.* The lead girls in ''Manga/{{Magikano}}'' and ''Anime/{{FLCL}}'' posing as maids clearly have no experience doing; it's an excuse for [[PrettyFreeloaders free room and board]].* ''Manga/{{Mahoromatic}}'' features a RobotGirl battle android who has one year remaining to live, and choses to spend it as the maid of her late Commander's son.* Fumi Himeno in ''Anime/MaiHime'' fits this trope to a T, in addition to being a [[NinjaMaid Ninja Maid]]. ''Anime/MaiOtome'' is ''built'' on this trope, with an on-camera lecture devoted entirely to "the correct way to greet your master".* In ''Manga/MaidSama'', the eponymous StudentCouncilPresident Misaki works at a MaidCafe to help support her single mother and younger sister. The job makes her a bit uncomfortable, between her [[DoesNotLikeMen dislike of men]] and her fears that her schoolmates will not take her seriously as president if they find out, but she stays on because the pay is good and her manager is very understanding and willing to accommodate her.* ''LightNovel/MaoyuuMaouYuusha'' has a maid serving Maou, titled Head Maid, who wants to perfect meidodo(Way of the Maid), who thinks fighting for one's master and leading an army to victory is a must for a maid. She's one of the demons from the library clan, and probably has read too much manga.* [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Obviously]], there's Tohru herself, but maids are treated as incredibly SeriousBusiness by the adult humans in ''Manga/MissKobayashisDragonMaid''. Kobayashi, Makoto, and Nae are all massive maid {{Otaku}}s (the latter to the point that she pretends to be one when guests come over). The bandit that Tohru once met even equated becoming a maid with freedom.* In ''LightNovel/MushokuTensei'' Lilia is a professional maid, having originally acted as a palace [[BattleButler guards-maid]] before being hired by the Greyrat family. Later on her daughter Aisha becomes this for Rudeus specifically.** Eris' family had a large number of beast race maids, due in large part to the family's furry fetish. Rudeus wonders whether they were kidnapped from their villages and trained as maids specifically to be sold to the family. * Minako from ''Manga/OniisamaE'', a maidservent in the Ichinomiya summer home. [[spoiler:And she is the only person who is allowed to enter Fukiko's RoomFullOfCrazy (she goes to the room just to clean said room) and she gets fired from her job by telling Nanako about Fukiko's room before going getting into further details (it has memorabilia of her first meeting with Takehiko.)]]* ''Anime/PaniPoniDash's'' Media is a prime example of this, seen wearing an maid outfit in just about every one of her appearances during the series.* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' has a MaidCafe episode, featuring both Dawn[[http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/2/26/Dawn_Maid_Outfit.png]] and Ash donning french maid outfits.** In ''Manga/PokemonSpecial'', Latias disguises herself as a maid to help out Emerald in the Battle Pyramid. Later on she disguises herself as a news reporter, then a nurse.* ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'':** Kasumi wears a maid-like apron at all times, and is generally sweet, domestic, and clueless. ** Akane once disguised herself as a French maid (with bonnet and everything) to infiltrate the house of Picolet Chardin, who had taken female Ranma to make her his bride. Then Soun disguised himself the same way.** Female Ranma ''also'' [[PaperThinDisguise disguised herself as a French maid]] in order to [[RunningGag thwart Ryoga]], who was [[TwoTimerDate trying to entertain both Akari and Akane (separately) at his home]].* Kuroha in ''LightNovel/RentalMagica'' often acts like a maid in their headquarters, primarily shown serving tea. Later on she also dresses as one, mainly for fun.* Ayanokouji Yaito of ''[[VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork Rockman.EXE]]'' has, in the anime, a personal army of twenty-odd maids in full French maid regalia, all attractive and with varying hairstyles. In any later episode featuring her, the viewer is usually treated to a montage of various maids about the town doing whatever task she's set them.* In ''Anime/SailorMoon [=SuperS=]: TheMovie'', Haruka is seen flirting with their maid [[HilarityEnsues only to get caught in the act by Michiru.]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E09mCp1P-Cc Can be seen here.]]* Sayaka Dejima from ''Manga/SeitokaiYakuindomo'' is Aria's maid.--> Tsuda: "They really exist?"* Wilhelmina in ''LightNovel/ShakuganNoShana'' [[VerbalTic ~de arimasu]] (even though she's terrible at cooking).* Amu Hinamori from ''Manga/ShugoChara'' has a maid, Amulet Clover, as one of her three primary [[TransformationSequence charanari]].* ''Manga/SoredemoMachiWaMawatteiru'', the most half-assed MaidCafe in anime history.* Minto in ''Manga/TokyoMewMew'' has her own squad of more traditional maids.* ''Manga/ToLoveRu'':** A chapter has Rito's class gets ready to help clean around the city. The [[DirtyOldMan principal]] explains that he has picked out special uniforms for the girls. Just then, the girls (including Yami) show up and they are in maid outfits. Rito asks Yami why she is there, and she tells him that the principal invited her. Also [[SchoolNurse Mikado]] wear this.** In the sequel "Darkness" when Saki [[LethalChef makes her mansion staff sick with her cooking]] she recruits people to help out for a day. It ends up with Mea, Nana, Momo, Yami, Aya and [[NinjaMaid Rin]] dressed up this way...because [[LoveableSexManiac Momo]] thought the Tenjouin maid uniforms were "to orthodox and lacked sex appeal"....er, because she [[BlatantLies "didn't want to be a burden on Tenjouin-san." ]]* There's an entire ''army'' of Catgirl maids in ''Manga/UFOPrincessValkyrie''.* ''Manga/VictorianRomanceEmma'' is a rather straight take on the idea, down to Emma's mundane outfit (for Victorian England, anyway).** So is Kaoru Mori's other manga about English maids, 'Shirley' (and its continuation 'Shirley Madison'). %%* Mia Clementis in ''VideoGame/YoakeMaeYoriRuriiroNa''.* In ''Anime/GundamBuildFightersTry Island Wars'', Minato Sakai unveils a new version of the highly embarrassing Super Fumina from the final episode of ''Try'' - a "[[Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam Titans]] Meido" colors version. Fumina beats him upside the head over it.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]* Literature/AmeliaBedelia* ''[[Literature/AMagesPower A Mage's Power]]'': Annala becomes a household maid as a summer job and wears a stylized version of a maid's traditional outfit as a uniform. [[spoiler: The uniform is a ruse for {{Power Nullifier}}s and a SlaveCollar.]] [[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]* Japanese rock group Music/BandMaid perform in this style of costume, deliberately contrasting the usual connotations of a maid with high-energy, aggressive rock that occasionally verges towards metal.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theatre]]* Even though it's set in Ancient Rome, ''Theatre/AFunnyThingHappenedOnTheWayToTheForum'' describes this trope in the number "Everybody Ought To Have a Maid", with lyrics like "everybody ought to have a menial, consistently congenial, and quieter than a mouse", and "shuttering up the windows, cluttering up the bedroom, buttering up the master".[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]* Felicia and her sister Flora from ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates''. The former is described as a "goddess of destruction" in her in-game profile for how clumsy she is when it comes to serving tea and food, while the latter is more competent at her job. [[NinjaMaid They also both received combat training]], with Felicia being the better fighter of the two.* ''VideoGame/{{Mother 3}}'' has [[http://earthbound.wikia.com/wiki/Ms._Marshmallow Ms. Marshmallow]], a robotic maid [[spoiler:who takes care of Porky Minch's toy room in Thunder Tower]].* Samantha of ''VideoGame/{{Killer7}}'' is both an example, and an aversion, due to a SplitPersonality. One is a typical maid, and the other is...[[AxeCrazy less than ideal]].* Noel in ''VisualNovel/TriangleHeart3SweetSongsForever'' is also a RobotGirl. She appears in ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'' with a sister, another maid.* Nene in ''VisualNovel/ToukaGettan''. There's a bunch of other Meido shown, but none of them are named.* Roll from the ''VideoGame/MegaMan'' series is a [[RobotMaid housekeeping robot]] and generally has cleaning-themed attacks when playable, although none of her outfits are particularly French (her ''VideoGame/MegaMan8'' clothes come close, though).* One random {{NPC}} in ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou'' in more-or-less PresentDay Shibuya, Japan wonders to himself if a girl he saw dressed up as a Maid was working at a {{Cosplay}} bar. This leads to him wondering if there are ''any'' maids who dress that way to clean houses. (You can buy the outfit in question after beating the game.)* Lynette from ''VideoGame/SoulCalibur III'' is dressed like this, but sells clothing at various stores instead of cleaning houses.* Daphnis from ''VideoGame/TearsToTiara2'' is a male example, [[WholesomeCrossdresser dressing and acting like a maid]] to be able to follow Elissa around as a bodyguard.* Sakuya Izayoi from ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'', as the head maid of a vampire's mansion, leads a small army of (pretty incompetent) fairy maids. She does a maid's duty perfectly: cooking, cleaning, washing, babysitting, [[FlechetteStorm knife throwing]], [[TimeStandsStill stopping the flow of time]], etc. She used to hunt demons and vampires before that. [[MultipleChoicePast Maybe. Nobody knows for sure.]]** Sakuya is the last of a [[OnceAnEpisode once per game tradition]], starting with the third game. The first was Ruukoto, a nuclear-powered robot maid [[OneSceneWonder only seen in]] Reimu's ending. Next is Mugetsu, who's not a maid (actually a god of a dream-world), but dresses the part anyway. Then is Yumeko, who's basically blonde Sakuya without timehax (and she uses swords instead of knives).** Konpaku Youmu is formally a gardener of Hakugyokurou, but she's also its only staff. She cooks, cleans, babysits (her mistress Yuyuko is something of a {{Cloudcuckoolander}}), does household shopping, acts as security ...* Daniella in ''VideoGame/HauntingGround'' is an AxCrazy homonculus maid.* [[NinjaMaid Iroha]] from ''VideoGame/SamuraiShodown'' has the [[YamatoNadeshiko personality]] of a Meido, but dresses like a cross between a FrenchMaid and a {{kunoichi}}.* Persephone is a rather infamous CuteMonsterGirl appearing in the DS ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}s''. Described in the bestiary as "a demonic maid in the employ of an earthly baron", Persephone resembles a traditionally-uniformed, frilly-capped little lady that will politely bow down before you and then will attack you with some kung fu moves.* A sidequest in ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'' has Colette acting as a maid at Meltokio Castle, complete with the archetypal outfit.** Maid outfits are often used as an alternate costume in the ''VideoGame/TalesSeries''. [[VideoGame/TalesoftheAbyss Tear]] and [[VideoGame/TalesofVesperia Judith]] get maid costumes to use. The latter woman can ''[[LethalJokeItem sweep the enemy to death]]'' if she has this costume and equips the reccurring JokeItem Deck Brush* This is an outfit in ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing City Folk''.* Fiona from ''VideoGame/ArcanaHeart'' goes into battle wearing a maid costume and wielding a {{BFS}}.* [[{{Phantasy Star}} Phantasy Star Universe]] has the Amorel gear ([[http://psupedia.info/images/0/01/Female_Parts.jpg left-most picture on the bottom row]]), a set of parts for female [=CASTs=] (I don't know if there's an equivalent set of clothes for female Humans/Newman/Beasts). Given the fact that a CAST is a robot...** Speaking of which, [[http://www.pso-world.com/images/classes/racasceal.jpg some of the body types for RAcaseals]] in ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarOnline'' made them look a bit like maids.* ''[[VideoGame/{{Boktai}} Lunar Knights]]'' gives us [[RobotGirl Carmilla]]. Frilly headpiece and everything.* In ''LightNovel/SisterPrincess'', the family is taken care of by "oyaji", who is a fetching young lady. She acts as the butler, the chauffeur, the cook...basically, any off-screen job involved in the upkeep of Promise Island. (In the animated adaptation, "oyaji" is now a middle aged man in similar roles.)* Takeuchi's uniform looks like a maid outfit in ''VisualNovel/{{Canvas 2}}'', but she insists it's just a waitress outfit.* In ''VisualNovel/TokimekiMemorial 2'', [[spoiler: Kaori Yae]] gets to wear a maid uniform during her SchoolFestival Event. It's treated as [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming as a moving and heartwarming scene]], as this Event occurs after [[spoiler: [[HesBack she recovers]] from her 2-years long HeroicBSOD]], with her having a fun time serving coffee to customers while wearing it; the scene was so memorable, her maid appearance stuck as an IconicOutfit for her, with several official artworks and figurines with her wearing it.* ''VideoGame/MitsumeteKnight R: Daibouken Hen'' has a maid uniform in [[VirtualPaperDoll its large variety of costumes]] for your female party members.** And in the original ''Mitsumete Knight'' game, Prim Rohzbank, and later, [[spoiler: Carol Palecki]], are maids at Dolphan Castle.* There is, of course, [[{{Eroge}} Custom Maid 3D]] which lets you, of course, [[ShapedLikeItself create your own 3D maid]].* ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIX'' features a complete maid's outfit as one of the costume pieces. Oddly enough, it's one of the few costume pieces [[VideoGamePerversityPotential without gender restrictions]].* In ''VideoGame/{{Skullgirls}}'', Peacock and Marie both started out as this. Peacock ditched the look after being mutilated by the Medici Mafia and [[WeCanRebuildHim rebuilt]] by Lab 8. Marie kept it even after becoming [[PersonOfMassDestruction the Skullgirl]].* The first boss of ''VideoGame/MindYourManors'' takes the form of a fanged shadow wearing a purple maid's uniform.* The special sprite for the Swordmaster class in ''VideoGame/OneWayHeroics'' is this. Amusingly enough, instead of having a detailed portrait, this character has a drawing of a cat and the words "No sexy maid pic for you!".* ''VideoGame/NekoAtsume'' has Sassy Fran, a cat in a maid outfit. She shows up occasionally if you have the Cardboard Café item laid out.* In the ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' games, the Maid trainers dress this way.* Sharon Kreuger in the ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel'' is this, serving as a maid to the Reinford family and also to your playable team. She's also [[spoiler:an enforcer of the mysterious organization Ouroboros and a badass at combat who joins your party at times in the second game, devastating enemies with her severing chains while also carrying a Craft that heals the entire party.]]* ''VideoGame/TheMaidOfFairewellHeights'': Marshmallow's a high school girl working as a maid for money.* ''VideoGame/{{Persona 5}}'': Sadayo Kawakami, your homeroom teacher, moonlights as an in-call maid, a profession with [[TheOldestProfession sexual undertones]], to make ends meet. When you accidentally discover this, she makes a deal with you, allowing you to slack off in class in exchange for keeping her double life a secret. [[spoiler:Through her Confidant, you learn that she is practically forced into this profession and other part-time jobs as a result of the guardians of a student who died under her care {{Blackmail}}ing her.]][[/folder]]

[[folder:Visual Novels]]* Lauren Paups from ''VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigations''. [[spoiler: Though it may be appearance in only.]]** Jean Armstrong's cafe has the waitresses wear maid outfits. Maggey spends her entire jail term in hers and during her very brief stint as a waitress Maya wears one. Unfortunately her smaller...assets are not enough to move waitress fetishist Victor Kudo enough to make him testify. [[spoiler: Mia is very annoyed to find she's only been channeled to give Maya a larger bust.]]* Pictured above is Hisui of ''VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}}'' [[spoiler:has a crush on Shiki, more or less obvious depending on what path is chosen. She is also hugely dedicated and caring towards him.]] Her twin sister Kohaku is one as well, and she is [[spoiler: seemingly]] very devoted to her job, not to mention [[spoiler: having a scary obsession with...guess who...Shiki.]] They become {{Ninja Maid}}s in ''VideoGame/MeltyBlood'', supposedly because of the RealityWarper effect of the BigBad. In the goofier parts of the game Kohaku even build multiple RobotMaid versions of Hisui. Mech-Hisui also makes an appearance in ''VideoGame/BattleMoonWars'', a fan-made Franchise/{{Nasuverse}} crossover game. While Hisui wears a typical maid outfit, however, Kohaku wears the more traditional outfit of a Japanese maid.* Shannon from ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry''. Not quite a NinjaMaid -- she's a defensive BarrierWarrior, closer to a WhiteMagicianGirl. ** [[{{Bishonen}} Kanon]] is a male example and straight-up BattleButler.** [[spoiler:From an anti-fantasy perspective, the Stakes of Purgatory were {{imaginary friend}}s of Yasu who were based on maids who worked for the Ushiromiya family.]]* Several members of nobility in ''VisualNovel/AnalogueAHateStory'' have maids as servants. In the sequel, ''VisualNovel/HatePlus'', you get to see portraits of some of the maids. ** In ''Analogue'', *Hyun-ae gives you permission to change her outfit, one of the options she offers is a maid uniform. If you start ''Hate Plus'' with *Hyun-ae, the option is once again available.* ''VisualNovel/NewDanganRonpaV3'' gives us Kirumi Tojo, the Ultimate Maid. [[TheAce She is excellent at her job, as she is able to complete any task she is given]], and there have been rumors she was even hired as a bodyguard (though she passes it off, stating she simply works as a maid). While trapped in the prison school, she cooks meals for the students and cleans their dorms, to the point where Kokichi asks her to "be his mom". Kirumi is very dedicated to her job [[spoiler: to the point where she murders Ryoma in order to escape the school and see if her country was alright. For further context, she was appointed as the ''de facto'' prime minister since she was so good at assisting him. Her dedication becomes quite violent in the end since she refuses to FaceDeathWithDignity and [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere attempts to run away from her execution.]]]][[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]* Volume 1 of ''Webcomic/VanVonHunter'' features a psychopathic Cockney maid named Miriam who cleans floors ''with a knife''.* Yuki Sonada, in ''Webcomic/MegaTokyo'', dresses up as this to follow Piro into a MaidCafe, disguising herself as one of the staff.** It's implied that she steals the clothes right off someone's back, too. ** Meido {{Meganekko}} Yuki with a (literal) ''Webcomic/RentAZilla'' [[http://megatokyo.com/strip/1061 all in one frame!]] * ''Webcomic/{{Collar 6}}'': Ginger first, then Stella and Claire.* ''Webcomic/{{Spinnerette}}''. [[RobotMaid Mecha]] [[NinjaMaid Maid]]. [[DontExplainTheJoke Technically, it's an exoskeleton, and she does aikido]]... Never mind. That is all.* How [[Webcomic/QuestionableContent Marigold]] imagines herself at one [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1613 point]]. [[/folder]]

[[folder:New Media]]* Wiki/ThatOtherWiki's [[AnthropomorphicPersonification Anthropomorphic]] {{Moe}} [[AnthropomorphicPersonification Personification]]s [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wiki-sisters.png Wikipe-tan (center), Commons-tan (left), and Quote-tan (right)]] are all designed with maid outfits.* [[VideoGame/PokemonFireRedAndLeafGreen Pokemon FireRed]] [[GameMod mod]] Moemon features a maid as the protagonist. She flies instead of runs when she uses the running shoes. [[/folder]]

[[folder:RealLife]]* Soviet (and Imperial Russian) school uniform for girls looks exactly like a stereotypical maid outfit.* JustForPun example: there's a phonographical Japanese joke of "meido no miyage", which could mean either "maid's gift" or "gift from the underworld". Most notably, this pun crops up in the opening of the Manga/HaruhiChan anime.[[/folder]]